Meet the Press Congressional Guests, 1947-2004

The authors analyze all 1,582 Meet the Presscongressional guests from the program's inception in 1947 until 2004. The guests were coded in terms of gender, state, party, and ideological orientation as measured by Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). The program generally followed the partisan and ideological patterns of the Congress itself in who showed up as guests. There was a clear tendency to exaggerate partisan differences, meaning slightly more liberal than typical Democratic guests and slightly more conservative than typical Republican guests. The program also drew heavily from a "golden rolodex" of predictable and frequent guests, often members of Congress with leadership titles.